Happy Friday:

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September 30, 2011



Hello! Wow, can you believe a new month is starting tomorrow? I am excited that it's going to be Christmas time soon. I think it's my favorite time of the year. I really hope Orange County gets some rain this year! It seems like we hardly ever get rain, and I love rain! So do you have any special plans for this weekend?


Today's photos are of found objects around my office.. some of these things will be added to the new shop I am working on (another shop? I know. but this is it, for real!) I love paper goods and fun little knick-knacks.

Thanks for all your comments on our anniversary video. We worked a street fair that day, so it was fun to come home and re-watch the video and read all your comments ;) Your notes and thoughts about our new hair styles were awesome too - I guess the consensus is short hair on Nick! Lots of the comments made me chuckle, your comments are the best. Thank you!




Come back Monday for a new desktop calendar, and I'm launching a coupons/specials section at the blog, have lots of fun shops lined up! Hope you have a splendid weekend friends!

xo.

diy with Brittni:

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Good morning! It's Brittni from Papernstitch with this week's DIY round up. Today's crafts are all about you: crafts you can wear and accessorize with (everything from skirts and cardigans to hair bows and book purses). I think you're going to love these projects, so lets just get right to it...

Show off your passion for books with this clever book clutch tutorial. *You might want to close your eyes if it makes you sad to see the pages of a book removed.

Blast back to the 50s with this charming bowtie headband.

Sew your very own striped cardigan.

Get ready to cook in your diy unisex apron. Love this.

Make a cute bow clip for your hair.

Learn how to make your own fabric buttons in minutes.


And finally, work your romantic retro side with this circle skirt tutorial from Cotton and Curls.


Do you have a favorite from this round up? Tell me about it the comments below.

--

About Brittni: She is the founder of papernstitch, an internationally curated exhibition site where you can buy handmade goods and submit to have your own work showcased. Brittni is also the editor of a handmade blog that features diy projects, business tips for creative entrepreneurs, and (of course) handmade items. You can view more free diy projects and tutorials here for 60+ quick and easy ideas you can start and finish today.

notes / Magnet Button Messages:

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September 29, 2011

Sometimes it's nice to leave little notes around. I'm a big fan of notes, as you may know :) So I had a thought to do a little magnet message board of notes, with numbers for 1 note a day or something. Your notes can be anything - encouragement or positive message. It's a simple project, here's how to do it!


Supplies:

- Fabric
- Cover Button Kit (kit can be purchased here)
- Magnets (I used neodymium magnets, can be purchased here)
- Iron on paper
- Glue
- Paper



Cut out circles that are about 2.5" in diameter. It just needs to be about a quarter inch larger than the button. Print out numbers on the iron on paper and iron on a number on each circle. *note: numbers are completely optional. This can be made entirely without numbers.



Once all your circles are cut out, you can start making the button. Start with the rubber button mold. Place a your circle piece of fabric, then the button shell. Push both into the mold, then tuck in the fabric. Place the silver backing and push again. Then simply pop out your button from the mold!

Now cut out circles from your paper and write messages on them. I did some circles, and some strips of paper that they'd have to open up.



Next, place some glue on the back of the button. Place your paper message and add another dot of glue for the magnet.



So when they pull a button, they can read a special message each day!





The Handsome - Brian from City of Dionne:

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Dionne from City of Dionne was actually one of the first official bloggers I met. She is the biggest sweetheart around! She has a beautiful blog and just became a consultant at bhldn in Texas! Legit ;) Dionne & Brian's story is quite amazing, from what I recall - they had a long distance relationship and I say anyone who can pull off a long distance relationship are superstars in my book! I get sad when Nick leaves for work each day, so I can't imagine being away from my guy for months straight. Hope you enjoy this super sweet interview from Brian!

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Please tell us a little about you and what you do: I am married to a beautiful extrovert, making me a very lucky introvert. I currently work as a mechanical engineer. I like to read in my free time, but I spend most of it being content with hanging out with my wife, a.k.a. best friend.

What are your thoughts about blogs + blogging? When my wife started her blog, I got excited by the thought of starting one myself. I thought about letting out my perspective on everything I had on my mind, a little bit at a time. I imagined the discussions I'd have with all of my blog followers wanting to relate their own experiences to mine. It would be a great communal event linking my life to all those people on the Internet who were bound to flock to my words. So I started out and found that what I was writing didn't really come out like I had envisioned in my mind. In fact, I was bored reading what I wrote with the interest I was sure it would attract fizzling out as soon as I typed the words. My wife encouragingly wrote a comment after becoming my follower on my first post. I learned fast that I wasn't a blogger.

I like the idea of reading blogs since it would be a window to the writer's personal experiences. How cool that would be. I've been thinking how fun it would be to follow a few interesting blogs. It's been a few years--one day maybe I'll take the effort to look around and see if any attract my interest.

How did you & your wife meet? I knew some people who had nothing but outright fondness for this girl named Dionne. They seemed to think she was extra special and of course all this talk made me interested to meet her. Our mutual friends finally set up an outing at Laguna Beach and she actually was better than the expectations my friends had built up for me. She was very talkative and, of course, really easy on the eyes.

How many hours a day does your wife spend blogging? I remember she used to set every Sunday afternoon aside for blogging, but I haven't seen her writing lately. She must blend it much better with all of her other activities because I never notice her blogging these days.

What do you do during this time? I must be at work during the time she blogs these days.

Any silly/crazy/funny/cool stories or experiences related to blogging you'd like to share with the readers: Dionne likes to set up meetings for her blog readers every year during the Christmas/New Year vacations we take out in California. Since she posts pictures and writes about me, these people who are complete strangers relate to me as if they know me well. It's unusual especially since I feel a bit out of place talking with hardcore bloggers but they're friendly and easy to talk with. I like her blog friends a lot - they are great people!

Is there any one thing that annoys you most about having a blogger wife? I'm sometimes worried a bunch of people will find out embarrassing details about me personally all over the blogging world, but Dionne never blogs anything like that about me - she's always blogging happy thoughts, so I don't worry about it that much anymore. She used to set time aside where I'd have to leave her alone, which bugged me a bit; but now she never blogs when I am at home, she makes sure to set aside her time with me for just me - no blogging. :)

lovely wear:

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September 28, 2011

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Today my entire outfit is thrifted! Well, except the watch. I wish I knew the brand of the skirt + top, but the tags were cut off when I found them at Crossroads. Do you have a buy/sell/trade store near you? I first found out about buy/sell/trade when I was in college and lived 30 seconds away from a buffalo exchange. You can take your clothes and either sell them or get credit - so whenever I do a closet purge, I take the clothes over and get trade credit. It's a pretty fabulous exchange.

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This outfit features some of my favorites! My favorite watch, which is a Harry Potter watch ;) found on ebay... and my favorite map bag, found while thrifting in SLC at Alt Summit back in January. I had always wanted a map bag, and there it was on the rack for $3 bucks! Thanks Utah!

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Skirt, $11 / Top, $9 / Necklace, $8: Thrifted from Crossroads Trading Co
Shoes: Thrifted from Reanimated Rags! (Tons of cool vintage shoes!), $29
Harry Potter Watch: ebay, $12
Bag: Thrifted from Salt Lake City, Utah, $3

inspire: lovely.

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September 27, 2011

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From Me To You


Tim Walker Photography here


Rickuz


stephane boghossian


Tim Walker Photography again.


wolfgang tillmans


Martha Stewart


Kalle Gustafsson


Rebecca Jane


love this photo of merryl, she is so gorgeous in '79!
via sharenator.com


via pinterest - actual photo source unknown.


Lisa's Locket

New hairstyles:

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So I mentioned this already but back in August, I got a new haircut. Then a couple weeks later, Nicholas got really tired of his beard. He said the exact moment came when he was eating chicken wings at lunch, took a bite, and the sauce got all in his beard. haha. I said he should wait and hold out until Halloween or something. He hadn't cut his hair since our wedding (a whole year!) But he was done with it. So here are some pics from 'the transformation' ;)

Before:

After:
I have never had my hair this short, ever! I love it though. You gave me a lot of good feedback, I wanted to do pixie but Nick wasn't so for the idea. So this was good, he likes it a lot. It's so light and easier than my long hair. It was pretty drastic - I mentioned maybe I could donate my hair so when I went in, the hairstylist put it in a pony tail and just chopped it right off! haha, it was nice and organized but eeek, it was intense!

Nick's transformation:

So right when Nick shaved his beard and we looked at each other, we both burst out laughing. He looked so young! I missed the beard + long hair look for a while. The change was kind of drastic, and took some time to get used to. But I do like this look now.. I really think he looks handsome either way! He said his face and ears are more cold now ;) But he likes this look too.

Change is nice.. I totally recommend it. What do you think of Nick's look? Short hair or long hair? If you're thinking about a new look - just go for it! It will always grow back! :)

good cheer deal, ampersandity:

2

September 26, 2011

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Lovely deal this week from Ampersandity! Did you know Cathie did the calligraphy for my wedding? She is really fantastic and her shop is filled with tons of lovely stamps!

Item: $28 for $50 voucher for anything from Ampersandity!
Retail Price: $40
Good Cheer Price: $28

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To purchase this deal, click the PAYPAL - BUY IT NOW button below!
(Note: If you are using google reader, button may not appear)








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- Only 25 vouchers available!

- To redeem voucher: select the items you'd like purchase, proceed to checkout, and select "other" as your payment option. If you exceed the voucher amount, paypal invoice will be sent to you for the remaining amount.

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- Please be sure to visit Ampersandity and support!

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